Tiger Riding for Beginners

Traveling Poet Philosopher & Occasional Wiseacre

grass-rattle, plop!
 grass-rattle, plop! -- repeats...
 at last, I see a frog.

a brave youth
 plummets into the stepwell,
 all the while
 looking like she's on a stroll,
 blowing her nose and waving.

standing on one leg,
 steadfast while squirrels mistake
 one for a tree.

SPRING*

The spring sea;
 gently, quietly, 
 all day long.

SUMMER

what a joy!
 wading through summer rivers,
 sandals in hand.

AUTUMN

vacant teahouse,
 atop the mountain:
 a harvest moon.

WINTER

neighbors detest me
 for my whistling kettle:
 a cold winter night.

* Translation by: Wilson, William Scott. 2023. A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Haiku. Tuttle Publishing: North Clarendon, VT.

nature makes no
 straight rivers; men make none
 that meander.

a squirrel chitters;
 its black body against
 the ash gray tree.

the sun rises
 on a quiet city
  as it wakes.

sunrise orange
 sparkles on the lake;
  lone fisher casts nets

a quiet harbor
 keeps choppy seas at bay,
 but all boats are out.

thin moon crescent 
 shines brightly on a
  cold, winter night.